[39] Here we find the Hedwigian theory of the fructification of mosses forestalled by the good sense and accurate observation of Linnæus, though out of respect for Dillenius he soon after adopted the erroneous opinion of the latter, making what is really the male the female, and vice versa. See Transactions of the Linnæan Society, v. 7. 255. Not being able to investigate every point of systematical and physiological botany thoroughly himself, he, with amiable deference, often trusted to those who had more particularly studied certain subjects.
June 10.
(Here occur in the manuscript long Latin
descriptions of Rubus arcticus and Betula nana, which are printed in a more finished state in the Flora Lapponica, ed. 2. 170 and 274.)
June 11.
Being Sunday, and a day of continued rain, I remained at Umoea.
June 12.
I took my departure very early in the morning. The weather was so hazy I could not see the distance of half a gun-shot before me. I wandered along in a perpetual mist, which made the grass as wet as if it had rained. The sun appeared quite dim, wading as it were through the clouds. By nine o'clock the mists began to disperse, and the sun shone forth. The Spruce Fir (Pinus Abies), hitherto of an uniform dark green, now began to put forth its lighter-coloured buds, a welcome sign of advancing summer[40].
Chamædaphne of Buxbaum (Andromeda polifolia) was at this time in its highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds in a most agreeable manner. The flowers are quite blood-red before they expand, but when full-grown the corolla is of a flesh-colour. Scarcely any painter's art can so happily imitate the beauty of a fine female complexion; still less could any artificial colour upon the face itself bear a comparison with this lovely blossom. As I contemplated it I could not help thinking of Andromeda as described by the poets; and the more I meditated upon their descriptions, the more applicable they seemed to the little plant before me, so that if these writers had had it in view, they could scarcely have contrived a more apposite fable. Andromeda is represented by them as a virgin of most exquisite and unrivalled charms; but these charms remain in perfection only so long as she retains her virgin purity, which is also applicable to the plant, now preparing to celebrate its nup
tials. This plant is always fixed on some little turfy hillock in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained to a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, as the fresh water does the roots of the plant. Dragons and venomous serpents surrounded her, as toads and other reptiles frequent the abode of her vegetable prototype, and, when they pair in the spring, throw mud and water over its leaves and branches. As the distressed virgin cast down her blushing face through excessive affliction, so does the rosy-coloured flower hang its head, growing paler and paler till it withers away. Hence, as this plant forms a new genus, I have chosen for it the name of Andromeda[41].